3. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (2014)

Premiering two years after Paranormal Activity 4, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones is the last film in the franchise that features Katie Featherston (Psychic Experiment) as her character Katie who has been a main character in the franchise since the first film. This was the first film of the franchise Landon had a part in directing while also writing the script. The film follows a group of high school graduates as they try to deal with a demon from a mysterious cult. 

Jesse, played by Andrew Jacobs (The Wrong Boyfriend), ends up marked by the demon after the unexplained death of his neighbor. The teens need to figure out what’s happening to them with the help of the previous films to save Jesse from the demonic presence.

The film was exactly what the franchise needed, as Landon took the original formula of the franchise and threw it out the window. Landon takes the film from a nice suburban home to an apartment complex. The change in location makes the scares even more terrifying. Like previous films in the franchise, viewers are introduced to the characters before everything starts to get crazy. The moments before it gets scary feel authentic and allow viewers to connect to the characters. ‘Blink and you’ll miss it’ scares are some of the best in the franchise on top of the terrifying unexpected jumpscares.

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones can be streamed on Max.

2. Happy Death Day (2017)

Filled to the brim with ‘80s charm and deaths galore, Happy Death Day is built on a simple plot and a callout to Groundhog Day. While simple, it works well. It is a very derivative plot that follows the witty Rothe as Tree, a college student who repeats her birthday every morning after she’s killed by a baby mask-wearing killer. As she repeats the same day over, Tree has to relive her murder in many gruesome ways all to discover her killer’s identity. Landon doesn’t shy away from how he has derived a day repeating on a loop from Groundhog Day. Praised to be a unique twist on the slasher genre, Happy Death Day provides a familiar yet new scene to horror.

If someone says they knew the killer from the start, well, it’s hard to believe. The film is filled with red herrings, ones that in a second rewatch will make viewers go ‘I can’t believe I missed that!’ Classic horror locations such as hospitals and deserted car lots help boost that familiar slasher feel as Tree runs for her life again and again. Like its successor, Happy Death Day is a dark comedic horror. Unlike its successor, Happy Death Day had the advantage of feeling new and not too overwhelming.

Happy Death Day can be purchased on Amazon Prime Video.

1. Freaky (2020)

A hilarious slasher comedy, Freaky took the elements of body swaps and traditional horror to create an ode to teen cinema. In the movie, teen Millie, played by Kathryn Newton (Paranormal Activity 4) just wants to survive high school. Her life is turned upside down when the infamous serial killer, the Butcher, played by Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers), attempts to kill her. Unfortunately for them, a mystical dagger he stole causes them to switch bodies. 

With only 24 hours to get her body back, Millie has to hurry before she stays stuck as the killer forever. With stars Vaughn and Newton’s on-point acting, the film hilariously shows viewers what would happen if a killing went wrong when a serial killer begins to kill in a teenage girl’s body.

More straightforward than his previous slashers, Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U, Freaky provides a similar shakeup to the slasher genre. Calling to beloved body swap films like Freaky Friday, Landon pays homage to teen classics while also poking fun at traditional horror. With an array of easter eggs and homages to classic slashers like Scream, Landon was able to perfectly balance an ode to the horror genre while focusing on the characters and how they handle the challenges associated with the body swap.

Freaky can be streamed on Peacock.